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Monday, April 20, 2009

I Will be Your Witness

Do you remember this speech from Shall We Dance?

We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet ... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things ... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying, “Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.”

It popped into my head recently after reading Isaiah 43:10-13. There’s a lot in the passage that talks about God’s authority and distinctiveness. But what stuck out to me is this: Yes, he’s big and powerful, but he wants to be known. He’s relationally driven.

God wants us to be a witness to who he is and what he’s doing. Not like a student in detention who has been sentenced to do time, but like someone who has freely and wholeheartedly committed to a marriage. Deep down, I think most of us have a similar desire. We want to be seen. We need to matter. We ache to be loved.

Two days ago, I came across the passage in Mark when Jesus heals a blind man. I almost cried when I read it. (Strange right?) But I didn’t just hear him say, “I want to see!” I think he was also saying, “I want to be seen!” A blind beggar would have been a common sight outside the city gates. The kind of thing that you stop noticing after a while. And when the blind man cried out, scripture says many rebuked him. They were embarrassed by him. They wanted him to say quiet and unseen in the background. Let Jesus do more important things, and go and spend time with people more deserving of his attention. But the cry of this man’s heart is more determined than the desire of the crowd and he shouts all the more. He’s crying out not just to see, but to be seen. And Jesus did both. He took the time to see him…and he opened this man’s eyes to see everything he had been missing. You know what happened after the healing? The man followed Jesus along the road. A relationship was born.

There’s a verse in Acts that says, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After reading the passages in Isaiah and Mark, I think maybe the meaning of that verse is two fold. Wherever we are, we should keep our eyes open to see God there. Don’t let him go un-witnessed. But we should also keep our eyes open to the people around us. They matter. They need to be seen and to be loved. Be his ambassador. His witness.

After all, God only cares about three things: relationships, relationships, relationships. And as much as I think he wants to hear it, he’s also saying to each of us: “I care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things ... all of it, all of the time, every day. Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.”

Isaiah 43:10-13 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. Yes, and from the ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Acts 1:8 “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Mark 10:46-52 “As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

1 comment:

"But we should also keep our eyes open to the people around us. They matter. They need to be seen and to be loved. Be his ambassador. His witness."

I'm off to Michigan tonight (Katie and Charlotte too). Someone we know took their own life last Sunday. She mattered, and I know she was seen and loved...I'm also pretty certain she wasn't aware that God was there for her saying:

“I care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things ... all of it, all of the time, every day. Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.”